Eagle Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 44.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,147 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $6,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 40,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,065,000 after buying an additional 2,989 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 5,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,719,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,764,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,661 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.2 %

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $305.15 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.37. The firm has a market cap of $124.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.18.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 59.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 41,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Company Profile

Automatic Data Processing, Inc provides cloud-based human capital management solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Employer Services and Professional Employer Organization (PEO). The Employer Services segment offers strategic, cloud-based platforms, and human resources (HR) outsourcing solutions.